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About 220 workers at the President Casino were dealt a tough hand this week.

They learned they will probably be out of a job come June 28.

Pinnacle Entertainment notified employees, their union and the state on Monday that it plans to permanently lay off everyone who works at the downtown riverboat, which is set to close by July 1.

On Tuesday, Pinnacle also told those workers that they wouldn’t receive any severance pay or retention packages to stay with the company, though it rescinded that policy on Wednesday and agreed to reconsider.

The layoffs come as little surprise. Pinnacle agreed last month to shut down the ailing casino, and it was widely assumed that jobs would be lost.

But the company had held open the possibility of transfers to open positions at its other St. Louis casinos — Lumière Place and the just-opened River City — which together employ nearly 2,500 people.

Now that appears open to negotiation.

On Tuesday, President general manager Chris Strobbe sent a memo to employees saying "Pinnacle has decided that no retention or severance packages will be granted" to the casino’s workers. On Wednesday, after word of that spread, Strobbe issued another memo, saying the original plan was "rescinded and withdrawn."

Pinnacle, he said, would begin talks with UNITE Here Local 74, which represents 58 people at the President, about the effects of the closure. He said a final decision on severance and retention for non-union employees would also be made "at a later date."

The company had no further comment Wednesday. But UNITE Here said it was hoping for productive talks.

"We believe this is the beginning of a process of dealing with employees, not the end," said union official Dana Wise.

Just last week, the union won a big victory when Pinnacle settled with the National Labor Relations Board on charges of unfair labor practices at Lumière and The President. In May, the Las Vegas-based casino company withdrew its recognition of the Local 74 after the local broke away from UNITE Here, though it rejoined a few months later. In the settlement, Pinnacle agreed to start talks on a new contract promptly; then came the layoff notices.

All the back and forth left a sour taste in the mouths of employees — some of whom bused to Jefferson City to speak up for the casino when the Missouri Gaming Commission was trying to shut it down earlier this year.

Pam Perry, who has been a cashier at the President for 15 years, said she had twice applied for jobs at River City, but was turned down. Now she is not sure what she will do.

"Ever since Pinnacle took over it’s been, ‘We’re going to do this,’ ‘We’re going to do that,’" Perry said. "They don’t keep their promises."

Myron Minner, a security guard who has worked 16 years at the President, said that, after four years without a raise and all the drama over the President’s fate, he was just hoping for a decent severance package.

"After all this," he said, "I don’t think I want to be in the casino business ever again."

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